England 2 – 1 Brazil: Lampard Leads Lions to Victory

Lampard scores the winner in an upset victory for England.

England bested favourites Brazil 2 – 1 in an impressive showing from the Three Lions.

Perhaps fuelled by Brazilian star Neymar's earlier claims that they were a "one-man team", England pulled an uncharacteristically vibrant performance out of the bag in a friendly at Wembley Stadium.

In the days leading up to the game, Neymar had told the media that he believed England were not contenders to Brazil's hopes of success in the 2014 World Cup, saying: "they rely too much on Rooney – once you look past him you don’t see an obvious player who can win them a match. But Brazil have got many players who can."

Rooney looked set to prove Neymar right in the 26th minute, slotting the ball into the back of the net after Julio Cesar knocked an attempt from Theo Walcott into his path. On the other hand, Neymar was having a disappointing night, who failed to convert a superb cross from Oscar in the 37th minute, a recurring theme in the young star's evening.

But Brazil brought themselves back onto level terms following the half-time break, after Gary Cahill fumbled the ball into the path of Neymar, who passed the ball to Fred, who then capitalized on the opportunity and netted the ball past Joe Hart.

Following this poor defensive display England looked shaky for a moment but, in the 59th minute, Rooney passed the ball into the path of Frank Lampard, who skillfully curled the ball into the Brazilian net, with it ricocheting off of the post in the process.

Although winning a friendly doesn't bring them any closer to overcoming the seemingly insurmountable odds of bagging the World Cup next year, a victory over a team as big as Brazil will certainly be a boost of confidence to Roy Hodgson's squad.

Speaking of the victory in a post-match interview, goalscorer Lampard said humbly: "We can't get carried away, but it's been a long time since we've beaten them, so it's a great feeling."